An important measure of youth inactivity is related to social and civil society participation. While economic participation and educational attainment of youth is important for its dynamic and medium- to long-term impact on growth and income generation, social and community participation of youth is also important for maintaining that young people are active and engaged in society’s development and problem-solving around social issues.

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High levels of unemployment and inactivity are associated with low levels of civic engagement, and civic engagement might act as a mediator both for achieving higher youth participation in civil society and also to activate youth through their transition from school to work.⁴⁵ Interventions through civil society may help to activate and to empower young people to achieve higher participation in civil society as well as being more active in transitioning from school to work, leading to better, faster and more secure job placements. Inclusive participation of youth in well-developed civil society also lead to better-performing communities and governments.⁴⁶

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Civic participation of youth also remains critically low in Turkey. Several studies underline the fact that in Turkey, youth may be disengaged from civil society and community involvement. A nationally representative research study conducted among young people aged between 18 and 24, showed that 73 percent of young people did not have any membership in civil society organizations. Among those who have a link to a civil society organisation, 12 percent of them mentioned membership of student clubs in the universities, 6 percent of them mentioned association memberships, and 2 percent of them mentioned professional chambers.⁴⁷ Based on the same data (a nationally representative sample of 2,508 young people at age 18-24), young members of CSOs are more likely to be particularly university students. A UNDP study that collected data on 3,322 young people in the 15-24 age group in Turkey (in 2008) also has a similar finding that while on average civil society participation is about 4% in the sample, the level increases to 46% for university students and graduates. ⁴⁸

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Similar to the findings in global literature, in Turkey as in other countries, a strong connection exists between low economic participation and low civil society participation. A more recent study by KONDA collected in 2011 from 2,366 young people in the age group 15-30, suggests that while civil society engagement is about 20 percent in this sample, among those who are out of employment, education or training (NEET), the level of engagement is much lower at 4.8 percent.⁴⁹ Low levels of social engagement, therefore, is likely to be correlated with low levels of economic engagement and with unemployment and NEET status.

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Erdogan et al. (2017) examine the consequences of being NEET in terms of the trust, political participation and political efficacy (i.e. an empowerment module).⁵⁰ The authors find that both NEET women and men have lower trust to people in their immediate environment compared to non-NEET youth and young NEET women further have lower trust for other people outside their immediate circle while young NEET men were found to have similar trust levels with non-NEET men to the outer world. The findings were similar regarding political participation such that being NEET was negatively associated with political participation activities such as signing a petition, attending a peaceful demonstration or participating in a boycott. Political efficacy measured with questions like “to have many opportunities to turn the neighbourhood into a better place” and “to have the opportunity to work with other people in turning the neighbourhood into a better place” was also lower for NEET youth and especially for women.

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As part of this report, we have analysed Time Use Survey 2015, a national level representative dataset, for looking at young people’s civic participation in Turkey.

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The Time Use Survey (TUS) asks respondents if they have volunteered in the last month and if they are a member of a CSO. TUS 2015 survey includes detailed questions about volunteering in the last month and CSO membership. Volunteering to a variety of groups is questioned including social welfare groups, sports clubs, places of worship, political groups, youth groups, security/first-aid groups, environmentalist groups, justice/human rights groups, countrymen associations, hobby groups, parent-teacher associations, professional solidarity associations, and adult education groups. Hence volunteering in one of these groups in the last month is assumed as active participation in the analysis. CSO membership is also asked separately for nonprofit professional chambers, cooperatives and professional associations, unions, political parties, sports clubs, foundations, and associations.